Covid 19 Omicron: New data reveals 'critical' danger in avoiding booster shot

Compared to people who've been triple-vaxxed, unvaccinated people are also a whopping 34 times more likely to end up in ICU.

The confronting new analysis from the Herald Sun reported that even double-jabbed people in Victorian who caught Covid were seven times more likely to require ICU treatment, than those who were triple-jabbed.

Speaking to the publication, Victoria's Deputy chief health officer Prof Dan O'Brien said the Covid vaccine should be viewed as a "three-dose vaccine" with double-jabbed people "significantly" losing their protection from Covid three months after their second jab.

"I just really would love people to really get that concept of the third dose," he said.

"It's not just a sort of added window dressing – it's actually really important and I think those figures really emphasise that."

Appearing on Australia's Today show on Monday morning Dr Nick Coatsworth advised all eligible groups to "strongly consider" a booster dose, even if you don't have underlying medical conditions that could put you at risk for more serious infection.

However, for people who are "high risk" like adults over the age of 65 and people with chronic medical conditions like heart and respiratory disease, the booster is essential, said the infectious disease expert, quoting the new data.

"You really need to be getting that booster if you're in a risk group and strongly consider it even if you're not," he said.

According to Sunday's data from the Australian federal Department of Health, 9,991,919 Australians over the age of 16 have received over two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while 94 per cent of Australians over the age of 16 are double-jabbed.

This daily infographic provides the total number of vaccine doses administered in Australia 🇦🇺 as of 12 February 2022 📅

Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccine information here 💻 https://t.co/lsM33j9wMW pic.twitter.com/2jkqGSYBn9

— Australian Department of Health and Aged Care (@healthgovau) February 13, 2022

'Up-to-date' status changed

This comes as the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) changed what classified as "up-to-date" for the Covid-19 vaccines from two doses to three. The medical board updated their recommendation after estimates indicated "lower initial vaccine effectiveness" against the Omicron variant with just two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine.

Effectively, this means a previously "fully vaccinated" person (double-dosed) could lose about 50 per cent of their protection within 120 days, with their risk of hospitalisation also falling to 52 per cent.

Atagi also found that there were "no safety signals of concern for an earlier booster dose given from three months after the primary series" with the third dose offering an 88 per cent increased effectiveness against hospitalisation.

However, despite the advice from the government's immunisation advisory body, any updates to official booster mandates will be left to the state governments, Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed.

Covid 19 impact in New Zealand

In New Zealand 45.4 per cent of the eligible population have now been boosted, with 20,739 receiving their third boost yesterday.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield said: "We're seeing ourselves continue to achieve in terms of our total vaccination rate with over 96 per cent first dose, cracking 95 per cent fully vaccinated, so I think there's no reason why we couldn't keep aspiring to get [boosters] as high as possible."

"I urge every New Zealander who is eligible for a booster to get it as soon as possible. We are in a race against Omicron and the more people who are boosted the more we can reduce the impact of the outbreak."

New Zealand has hit a record 981 daily cases of Omicron in the community today.